Legacy
Summer 2015
This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement Now at The Florida Holocaust Museum
Highlights from this issue of Legacy
George Ballis, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1964
Museum honors humanitarian efforts of Tampa Bay and Sarasota area teens, pg 3 FHM original exhibition on Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay on display Aug. 1 to Dec. 1, pg 6 Explore the lasting impact of the Civil Rights Movement at upcoming events, pg 6 Sarasota Opera to perform works banned by the Nazis, pg 11
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Join The FHM in supporting education for thousands of students each year
Walter Loebenberg, Founder Amy Epstein, Founding Chair
Officers Nathaniel L. Doliner, Board Chair Renée Walter, Vice Chair Governance Rachael Worthington, Vice Chair External Affairs Amanda Saft, Vice Chair Internal Affairs Ann Piccard, Secretary Marty Borell, Immediate Past Board Chair Board Members Michael P. Brundage Anne Michelle Frey Eva Gerson Housh Ghovaee Steven Greenbaum Michael A. Igel, Esq. Brian J. Katz Helen Levine, Ph.D. Natarsha D. Nesbitt, Esq Brendon K. Rennert Janet A. Rodriguez-Rocha Lisl Schick Joyce Tawil Brian N. Taub Toni Rinde Advisory Committee Amy and Bruce Epstein Matthew N. Gordon, CFP – Financial Advisor Lois Pardoll Irene Weiss Mary Wygodski Executive Director Elizabeth Gelman Museum Staff Erin Blankenship Scooter Bontly Garry Deatherage Rick Doyle Jan Hensley Jesse Jackson Maria Johnston Korri Krajicek Sandy Mermelstein
Anna Olejnicek Kelly Oliva Elena Sanderlin John Sanguinett Monique Saunders Keeley Sheehan Urszula Szczepinska Frances Villarreal Lenora Walters
The Museum is reaching out to our valued supporters to ask you to help the Museum make up this deficit in any way you can. Funding from the Department of Education enables the Museum to provide programs and services that reach tens of thousands of students every year in Tampa Bay and Sarasota, throughout the State of Florida and across the country. These programs include: • Teaching Trunks • School tours • The Speak Up! Speak Now! ® summer program The FHM ships free Teaching Trunks to classrooms • The Anne Frank Humanitarian Award nationwide every year. program • Teacher Education across the state he Florida Holocaust Museum is extremely grateful to the State of All of these programs, funded through the Florida for renewing funding for our Department of Education, are at risk. Your Technology Initiative. support is more important than ever!
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This initiative is furthering our mission through digitizing Holocaust Survivor testimonies and expanding the virtual reach of the Museum. Sadly, however, we have learned that our funding for Educational programs has been cut by $200,000 from what we received last year.
Please consider making a donation to The FHM to continue these vital programs. Thank you for helping us continue to educate students on the importance of tolerance and understanding. To support The FHM’s educational programs, please call (727) 820-0100 ext. 274.
The Florida Holocaust Museum Leadership Council Rachael Worthington, Co-Chair Elizabeth Gelman, Co-Chair Leadership Council Members David Baras, M.D. Michael D. Bisk Frantz G. Christensen Benjamin Diamond Tony DiBenedetto Etta Donnell Maling Ebrahimpour, Ph.D. Ruth Ehrreich Carolyn Ellis, Ph.D. Judy Genshaft, Ph. D., Honorary Steve Gersten Louis Goldfeder*
Gary Gould Bryan Greenberg William Greenberg, M.D. Brenda Greenwald Rochelle Gross Adam L. Horn William F. Jeffrey Mary Johnson, Ph.D. Randy Meg Kammer The Hon. Nelly N. Khouzam Edward Kissi, Ph.D. Zena Lansky, M.D. John J. Loftus Mitchell Lowenstein, M.D. Catherine McGarry Nancy Paikoff Aakash M. Patel Joy G. Pollack Alan Rash Mary Anne Reilly
Brendon Rennert Jack Ross Marion Samson-Joseph* Calvin B. Samuel David Scher Mark Segel Debbie Sembler Jeffrey Shear Craig Sher Todd Siegel Gayle Sierens Tom Stanton Bonnie Stein Robert Stein, M.D. Linda S.Taggart, M.A. Howard Tevlowitz Dr. Mary Kay Vona Mark Wright *of blessed memory
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From the Executive Director
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he Confederate flag did not fly over the South Carolina Statehouse until 1962, ostensibly erected to mark the centennial of the start of the Civil War, though many saw it as a reaction to the Civil Rights Elizabeth Gelman Movement. It took 53 years, a 15-year boycott from the NAACP, and many horrific events to finally remove it from Statehouse grounds. My family and I fortuitously found ourselves in Columbia, SC, the morning the Confederate flag was taken down from the Statehouse grounds. The streets outside the Statehouse were filled with hundreds of people – black, white, old, young – standing together to witness this historic event. As the flag came down, the crowd burst into a chant of “USA! USA! USA!” (You can see the video at www.Facebook. com/TheFHM). Total strangers reached over to embrace me and cry and laugh. A week later, however, the Klu Klux Klan took to those same streets alongside
supporters that included neo-Nazi groups. Yelling racial slurs and “white power,” they waved Confederate flags and banners with swastikas to protest the removal of the flag from the Statehouse grounds. While we should celebrate that, today, such overt white supremacist behavior is no longer condoned by society at large, their protest is a stark reminder that racism and hatred still exist and we must continue to work for a society where there is respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Beginning in August, The FHM will hold two exhibitions on the Civil Rights Movement. The FHM’s original exhibition Beaches, Benches and Boycotts: The Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay will be the first to focus on the Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay and Sarasota. We hope to engage our communities in conversations about our shared history – a first step toward creating a future without intolerance and hate. The national exhibition This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil
Rights Movement is comprised of black and white photos of the student activists and ordinary people who made the Movement happen. The subjects of these photos are men, women and children who stood together in the face of racism and intolerance, and fought for equality, understanding and peace. Now, 50 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we must not forget to follow their example. In conjunction with the exhibitions, the Museum is working with numerous community organizations to help facilitate this dialogue, including the YWCA, the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area, the Pinellas County Urban League, Pinellas Technical College and the Manhattan Casino. You can read more about the exhibitions and these upcoming events on pages 6 and 7. The Museum will hold more events on our shared Civil Rights history through the rest of the year – check The FHM’s website for more information throughout the coming months. We hope you’ll join us.
Museum honors humanitarian efforts of teens
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he Museum recently honored the humanitarian efforts of exceptional teens with its annual Anne Frank Humanitarian Award (AFHA) program. One student from each of Tampa Bay’s 95 public and private schools in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatee Counties was honored. The AFHA program recognizes those humanitarian actions that better the lives of others. By “doing the right thing,” recipients hold true to the spirit of Anne Frank who, in the face of hardships, endured and did not abandon her ideals. She believed that “in spite of everything ... people are truly good at heart.” “Each year we continue to be amazed by the extraordinary commitment and accomplishments of our AFHA Honorees. These young people are the embodiment of the mission of The Florida Holocaust Museum and will serve as role models for future generations of humanitarian leaders,” said Renée Walter, AFHA program chair and member of The FHM Board of Directors.
The 2015 Anne Frank Humanitarian Award program honorees. Photos by Sherry Keenan, Best View Photography.
Gayle Sierens, recently retired Co-Anchor of WFLA News Channel 8, is the Honorary Co-Chair of the program. Sierens and Dr. Judy Genshaft, President of the University of South Florida, served as the program’s guest speakers this year.
4 News from Exhibitions & Collections
Artifact Spotlight:
Learn more about The FHM’s permanent collection
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his German grammar and reading book, part of The FHM’s permanent collection, was intended for young children, to encourage them to join the Hitler Youth Program when they came of age. The title of the book translates to Cheerful Beginnings (or Happy Beginnings): Edition for Thuringia. Thuringia is a federal state of Germany, located in the central part of the country. Books like this helped to indoctrinate children with Nazi beliefs. In public schools, education included the promotion of German ideas such as devotion to Hitler, obedience to the government, militarism and antisemitism. The book was recently on display in the Museum with the exhibition Tempted, Mislead, Slaughtered – The Short Life of Hitler Youth, Paul B, which shows how the Nazi state, through its control of the education system and through a massive propaganda effort, was able to seduce the youth of Germany into active participation in its destructive mission. The book was generously donated to the Museum by Susan Fader, whose parents escaped to Shanghai to avoid Nazi persecution. An exhibit on her parents, Hancock Bank Presents Escape to Shanghai, is also currently on display in the Museum. The following is a translation of one of the pages:
Page 78 – Erichs Jungzug. My brother Erich is in the Jungvolk (German Youth). His Jungzug (unit of three Jungenschaften) is going on a hike today. The Pimpfe (rascals) are now passing our mountain house. I walk up to the road. How fine the uniform is! Every Pimpf has the badge on his left sleeve. Heinz is marching in the front row with the flag. How happy everyone is! Now they are striking up a song: We sing the song of the flag, we sing a proud song, we sing about our flag, which looks down on us. Oh, if only I could already be a part of them!
Help The FHM Preserve and Share the Stories of Survivors and the History of the Holocaust The Florida Holocaust Museum is always seeking original material related to Holocaust Survivors’ personal experiences. Our goal is to impact our visitors through personal stories which can only be told through objects and documents used by Survivors and witnesses during World War II. Some examples of material the Museum collects are: diaries, toys, personal documentation (i.e., identification papers), Judaica, photographs and clothing. Please contact Erin Blankenship, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, at (727) 820-0100 ext. 271 to learn more about the Museum’s collecting efforts.
News from Education
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Teaching Through Testimony
hroughout the year, Holocaust Survivors share their stories with the students and visitors who come to The Florida Holocaust Museum. They tell the students about the lives they led prior to the Holocaust and the time they spent with their families, and how their lives changed during the Holocaust, of families separated and loved ones lost. They also tell the students about how they rebuilt their lives after the Holocaust – of the hope they found, and the homes and families they built. When a Survivor shares his or her story with students, the tragedy of millions becomes the story of one. The Museum’s focus on individual narratives is designed to create a relationship between the past and present. Students who visited recently and listened to Lisl Schick, a Holocaust Survivor and an FHM Board Member, shared their gratitude and what they learned in letters to Lisl: “After seeing your presentation, I promised myself I would never be a bystander. Watching others get hurt and not doing anything about it is severely wrong.” “In your story, you taught us not to be bystanders when we see something bad occurring, but to speak up and get help.”
Lisl Schick, Holocaust Survivor and FHM Board Member, speaks with students visiting the Museum.
“Your story helped me see that the world is imperfect. It’s actually far from perfect. You taught us that we should always fight for what is right. I will carry this message throughout my life to try to stop the cruel things that occur in this world.” From the Museum’s core exhibition History, Heritage and Hope, students learn the history of the Holocaust, beginning with the history of antisemitism. They learn that the unimaginable didn’t happen overnight. When they view the final section of the exhibition called Lessons for Today, they learn that hatred and
intolerance unfortunately did not end with the Holocaust, but in fact still impact people all over the world today. The students who listen to a Holocaust Survivor speak and view the Museum’s exhibitions become witnesses to these authentic stories and this important history. They become aware of and alert to the dangers of intolerance and hatred. Through education they gain the tangible tools to recognize injustice and stand up to it, and are empowered to become Upstanders in their own lives.
Students learn importance of being an Upstander with Speak Up! Speak Now! combines discussions, speakers and a field trip to The FHM. Students also participate in an art project, which is used in ongoing public awareness programs in the community.
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he FHM and the City of Seminole Recreation Center are presenting the outreach program Speak Up! Speak Now! ® to middle school students this summer. The program teaches students about speaking up in the face of injustice, and
“This program is often the first time many students learn about the Holocaust. This is not simply about learning history, it’s about learning how necessary it is to be an Upstander and not a bystander,” said Amanda Saft, Chair of Speak Up! Speak Now! ®, and Vice Chair for Internal Affairs/Treasurer on The Florida Holocaust Museum Board of Directors.
Group discussions and guest speakers include crime victims, Holocaust Survivors, law enforcement officers, community activists and refugees.
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“Now I know what to do if I’m getting bullied. Now I know what to do to help others. I will treat others the way I want to be treated,” said a past Speak Up! Speak Now! ® student. Students learn about identity, inclusion vs. exclusion, and ways to stand up to prejudice and stereotypes. They explore concepts including bystander, bullying, respect, coexistence and universe of obligation.
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Upcoming Exhibitions & Events
Presented by
Beaches, Benches and Boycotts: The Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay
An original exhibition of The Florida Holocaust Museum
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On display August 1 to December 1, 2015
he focus of most Civil Rights history is written about places like Alabama and Mississippi, as if few challenges occurred elsewhere. Tampa Bay remained racially segregated at the dawn of the Civil Rights era and many local institutions and establishments held out on integration for several years after Brown v. the Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under “Jim Crow” every aspect of African American life in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and the surrounding cities was segregated. Restricted covenants were in place that segregated residential neighborhoods. African American children had to attend segregated schools that were under-funded and often in disrepair. Blacks could only be cared for at “Black Only” hospitals, and other public and private establishments like restaurants and beaches were often segregated – if blacks were allowed in at all. The Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay may have had characteristics similar to other areas of the South but its stories are its own. This exhibition will illuminate our region’s struggle with racial equality and shine a light on the local leaders who changed our cities. Top: Spectators at the segregated Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg in 1950. Bottom: People picket in front of St. Petersburg stores in December 1960, in a movement sponsored by the NAACP. Photos courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times
This Light of Ours opening reception August 1 at 7 p.m. at The FHM Join us for the opening reception, featuring three photographers whose work is part of the exhibition, including Tampa Bay resident Bob Fletcher. Free to FHM members, $9 general admission. Please RSVP to (727) 820-0100 ext. 271. Civil Rights: A Local Perspective A Florida Blue Community Conversation August 13 at 6:30 p.m. The Manhattan Casino, 642 22nd Street S, St. Petersburg A panel discussion on Civil Rights history in St. Petersburg, including Abdul Karim Ali, son of Joseph Savage, who organized and led the St. Petersburg sanitation strike in 1968; Leon Jackson, one of the two
remaining police officers known as the Courageous 12; Mamie Rogers, who was actively involved in the NAACP as a teen and young woman during the Civil Rights Movement; and Dr. Gregory Padgett, Associate Professor of History at Eckerd College. Presented in partnership with the YWCA. Community Conversations are made possible by support from Florida Blue. Free and open to the public. Please RSVP to (727) 820-0100 ext. 301. Civil Rights Candlelight Vigil September 12 at 7 p.m. Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, 2240 9th Avenue S, St. Petersburg Music, readings and a candlelight vigil, presented by the Dr. Carter G. Woodson
African American Museum in partnership with The FHM. Free and open to the public. Voices of Experience: Personal Stories of the Civil Rights Struggle and Insights on the Voting Rights Act A Florida Blue Community Conversation September 24 at 5:30 p.m. Pinellas Technical College, 901 34th Street S, St. Petersburg Presented in partnership with the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area, the Pinellas County Urban League, and Pinellas Technical College. Community Conversations are made possible by support from Florida Blue. Free and open to the public.
Community Conversations are made possible by support from
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This Light of Ours
Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement
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On display August 1 to December 1, 2015
his Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement presents the Civil Rights Movement through the work and voices of nine activist photographers – men and women who chose to document the national struggle against segregation and other forms of race-based disenfranchisement from within the movement. Unlike images produced by photojournalists who covered breaking news events, most of the photographers in this exhibition were affiliated with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and documented its activities by focusing on the student activists and local people who together made the movement happen. The exhibition is comprised of 157 black and white photographs, the majority of which were taken in Mississippi and Alabama from 1963 to 1966. This Light of Ours is an exhibition organized by the Center for Documentary Expression and Art. Major support for the
exhibition has been provided by the Bruce W. Bastian Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The FHM will hold an opening reception for the exhibition on Saturday, August 1 at 7 p.m., featuring three of the photographers whose work is included in the exhibition, including Tampa
Bay resident Bob Fletcher, in a panel moderated by Ray Arsenault, USF St. Petersburg professor and award-winning author of Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. Free to FHM members, $9 general admission. Please RSVP by calling (727) 820-0100 ext. 271.
Top: A “mock” vote is held to demonstrate that blacks desire to vote. The woman on the left, Ida Mae Holland, was a prostitute before joining the movement. She later attended college, earned a Ph.D., and became a playwright. Matt Herron, Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963 Left: Though too young to vote, Bobby Simmons proclaims his convictions on his forehead. Matt Herron, Selma—Montgomery, Alabama, 1965 Right: Marchers sing freedom songs on route to Jackson. Matt Herron, Near Jackson, Mississippi, 1966
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A Legacy of Education:
Create a legacy today to build a better tomorrow
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dward and Halina Herman have been actively involved in The Florida Holocaust Museum for many years, giving much of their time to speak to students about their experiences as Holocaust Survivors. Education is important to the Hermans, and inspired them to create a Legacy gift for The FHM that will help the Museum disseminate the tools to prevent future genocides. Ed said: “Ensuring the future of The Florida Holocaust Museum is important to us because in the death camp of Treblinka, where many members of our families were murdered, there stands a momument on which it is written ‘Never Again’ in seven languages. Our gift will ensure that The Florida Holoacust Museum continues to honor the victims and works to uphold the promise of ‘Never Again’ by sharing the lessons of the Holocaust with future generations.
Edward and Halina Herman
We are both children Holocaust Survivors. Halina survived as a hidden child, and I survived the Warsaw ghetto and living on false papers as a Christian. Our interest in the Museum is the result of our survival. It is important for both of us that the world remember the Holocaust and that the history should never be repeated.
Teaching school children about the Holocaust is one way of ensuring that the world will learn from the past. As our generation is getting older, it is important that the message be continued through the generations after. In our view, teaching school children about the tragedy of World War II is extremely significant.”
Help ensure the future of The Florida Holocaust Museum by remembering us in your will, estate plan or as a designated beneficiary. Each gift, big or small, makes a difference. Your legacy will be a trust for the future that helps the members of all races and cultures learn to recognize the inherent worth and dignity of human life. Please call Maria Johnston at (727) 820-0100 ext. 274 to discuss your Planned Giving options.
Local teachers attend 2015 Summer Institute featuring international Holocaust researchers at The FHM
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he Museum recently held the 2015 Sam Gross Summer Institute on the History of the Holocaust, Human Rights, and Genocide Studies, with educators from the Tampa Bay area. Research Director Patrice Bensimon and Research Fellow Marie Moutier from Yahad – In Unum spoke about the Parisbased organization’s work documenting a lesser-known aspect of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. Yahad – In Unum is dedicated to collecting testimonies of eyewitnesses, and identifying and documenting sites of mass crimes committed against Jews and Roma by the Germans and their collaborators during World War II in Eastern Europe. Bensimon and Moutier taught Summer Institute participants about Yahad – In Unum’s research, in conjunction with the exhibition Holocaust by Bullets: Yahad – In Unum, 10 Years of Investigation, which was recently on display at the Museum. They also led the teachers on tours of the exhibition. The FHM Curator of Education and Director of Research Urszula Szczepinska wrote the 155-page study guide that will be used worldwide with the exhibition. She showed the teachers at Summer Institute how they can use the study guide, which includes eyewitness testimonies, in their
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classrooms. The complete study guide is available to read on The FHM website. Szczepinska also taught sessions during Summer Institute on topics including young writers’ Holocaust-era diaries. Peter Black of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum also spoke during Summer Institute, on topics that included The Nazi Rise to Power and U.S. Responses in the Era of the Holocaust. Father Michael Cooper from Saint Leo University presented a seminar on the history of Jewish and Catholic relations. The FHM Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Erin Blankenship gave a talk on using Holocaust-era artifacts as educational tools. Educator and Tour Manager Sandy Mermelstein spoke about her parents’ families from her perspective of being a child of Holocaust Survivors. Holocaust Survivor and Advisory Council Member Mary Wygodski also spoke at Summer Institute and shared her testimony with the teachers. The program was free to teachers, and was presented in partnership with Yahad – In Unum and the Saint Leo University Center for Catholic and Jewish Studies.
Photos: Above left: Yahad – In Unum Research Director Patrice Bensimon and Research Fellow Marie Moutier lead teachers on a tour of the Holocaust by Bullets exhibition during the 2015 Summer Institute. Top: The FHM Curator of Education and Director of Research Urszula Szczepinska shows attendees how they can use the exhibition study guide in their classrooms. Middle: Holocaust Survivor Mary Wygodski speaks to teachers. Bottom: Peter Black of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum leads a Summer Institute session.
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Donor Spotlight: Passion for giving back inspires donor In addition to volunteering, Shirley also began donating to the Museum. After becoming involved with the AHFA program, Shirley began making a monthly donation to the Museum, and has continued to do so for several years. “I think there’s a passion to make a difference in the hearts of all people and I hope to do that for the rest of my life,” she said.
Donor and volunteer Shirley Stepp also volunteers at daycare centers where she reads to children.
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ince 2011, Shirley Stepp, co-chair and presenter in Sarasota for The FHM’s Anne Frank Humanitarian Award (AFHA) program, has given her time to The Florida Holocaust Museum.
Shirley grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, where she attended Catholic school. As a young girl she was exposed to the extraordinary story of Anne Frank and considers her to be an inspiration. Shirley moved from Michigan to Florida, where she was introduced to Holocaust Survivor and FHM Board Member Lisl Schick. Shirley soon took a tour of the Museum. “When we were done I said I would love to be of any help that I can,” said Shirley, who
joined the AFHA program shortly after as a presenter. Shirley has three daughters and despite being busy she still finds ways to give back. Aside from working with high school students through the AFHA program and contributing to the Museum as a donor, Shirley has served as a storyteller in daycare centers and children’s hospitals. Shirley also uses opportunities through the AFHA program to share encouragement and inspiration with young people. “I just want to touch the hearts of people and put a bright smile on their face. If I can do that then I’ve done a good job,” she said. The FHM is honored to have supporters like Shirley, who help to further the Museum’s mission throughout our communities.
Volunteer Spotlight: Working with Survivor testimonies, sharing the lessons of the past work moved him and his wife to Texas. There he worked as an engineer and was offered an opportunity to work in Babenhausen, Germany. While in Germany, Lane explored the community on the weekends and took time to talk to the German people and learn about their mentality in a post-World War II country. He became interested in the Holocaust and found himself visiting the Museum when he moved back to St. Petersburg. “This is a phenomenal research community and I just thought, ‘This is worth giving to’,” Lane said.
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The Museum asked Lane to help transcribe recorded testimonies from Survivors in the library.
he workspace of volunteer Joseph Lane sits nestled among the bookshelves of The FHM’s third floor library, where he works to transcribe the Museum’s extensive collection of Survivor testimonies.
“You spend a lot of time with this thing called ‘life’ and when you find that you have more free time you should give back without worrying,” he said.
Lane is originally from Florida, but his
Amidst the collection of Survivors’ stories,
he found inspiration for a historical fiction he is currently working on. Lane’s story takes place in 1937 Germany when a mother and father come to understand the change that’s about to happen under Hitler’s reign. Their two girls are taught a “game” by their mother in which she creates scenarios to prepare them to flee the country. Lane also looks forward to eventually taking the class to become a docent. “I’m not here because I’m an expert; anyone in the world can do better than I can. This is something I do because I want to give back,” Lane said. If you are interested in becoming a docent or volunteering in another capacity with The Florida Holocaust Museum, please call Volunteer Coordinator John Sanguinett at (727) 820-0100 ext. 245 or visit www.flholocaustmuseum.org/support.
Forbidden Music—Works Banned by the Nazis
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The Florida Holocaust Museum and Sarasota Opera present music by composers banned by the Nazis
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he Florida Holocaust Museum and the Sarasota Opera will present “Forbidden Music—Works Banned by the Nazis,” a concert to raise awareness of the Nazi campaign against “Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art). This campaign was originally applied to the visual arts, but later expanded to include music and theater. The concert will be performed in Sarasota at the Sarasota Opera House on November 7 at 7:30 p.m. and will be repeated in Ferguson Hall of the Straz Center in Tampa on November 8 at 3 p.m. In the Nazi campaign of antisemitism, the music of Jewish composers was seen as inharmonious and dangerous. By 1934, even non-Jewish composers such as Pfitzner and Hindemith were maligned as “atonal noisemakers” because of their association with Jewish composers and musicians. Composers who will be represented in the concerts include Mendelssohn, Mahler, Stravinsky, Gershwin, Weill, Viktor Ullmann, and Hans Krása’s, who was
The concerts will feature works by composers including Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (left), Gustav Mahler, and Igor Stravinsky (right). Photo of the painting of Mendelssohn by Eduard Magnus, c. 1845; Mahler in 1898, photographed by Josef Székely; photo of Stravinsky from Miniature essays: Igor Stravinsky, by photographer Robert Regassi.
murdered in Auschwitz. The concert program, under the direction of Sarasota Opera’s artistic director Victor DeRenzi, will contain songs, arias, and instrumental pieces that were banned by the Nazis. Performers will be artists from Sarasota Opera’s Fall Season of Puccini’s La bohème and Sarasota Youth Opera’s production of Brundibár. Narration developed by The FHM will tie the elements of the concert program
together with the themes of banned music and Nazi persecution of artists. This FHM and Sarasota Opera collaboration is made possible in part by support from the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee and the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. For more information on purchasing tickets, call the Sarasota Opera at (941) 328-1300 or the Straz Center at (813) 229-7827.
The Walter R. Porges Teacher Appreciation Evening 2015
The Florida Holocaust Museum held the annual Walter R. Porges Teacher Appreciation Evening in May. This year’s program honored Holocaust Survivor Betty Grebenschikoff (right), and thanked the teachers in attendance for their dedication to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust to their students. Betty spoke to the teachers about her life in Berlin, finding refuge in Shanghai during the Holocaust, and then rebuilding her life in the United States. The Walter R. Porges Memorial Lecture was founded by Mr. Porges’s sister Lisl Schick, who welcomed the teachers and spoke about her family. She and her brother were able to leave Austria for England in April 1939 through the Kindertransport, and were eventually reunited with their family in the United States. Lisl is a Board Member at The FHM.
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Spring 2015 at The FHM
The FHM held a screening in April of the documentary Orphans of the Genocide, about the thousands of children who lost families during the Armenian genocide of 1915, in which 1.5 million people were killed. Director Bared Maronian (right) spoke about his work after a screening of the film. April commemorated the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The FHM held the screening in partnership with St. Hagop Armenian Church and the University of South Florida, as well as the commemorative ceremony An Evening of Remembrance at St. Hagop Armenian Church and the lecture “Rising from the Ashes of Tragedy - Armenia’s Triumph Over Its Genocide” by Armenian historian Dr. Garabet Moumdjian.
Holocaust Survivors, many of whom give their time as Museum volunteers and Board Members, participated in this year’s Yom HaShoah Commemoration and candle lighting ceremony.
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Left: During The FHM’s Yom HaShoah Commemoration, members of the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis led prayers and the lighting of candles as part of the Commemoration, which was held in partnership with the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis and the Bay Area Cantorial Association. Right: After the commemoration ceremony, Kevin P. Spicer, C.S.C., the James J. Kenneally Distinguished Professor of History at Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts, presented “Entreaty and Supplication: Catholic Clergy and Jews in Hitler’s Germany,” about the select group of the more than 26,000 Catholic priests in Germany who interceded for their persecuted Jewish neighbors.
See more photos from Museum programs and events online at Facebook.com/TheFHM. Right: The Museum held a Docent Appreciation event to recognize the hard work of the Museum’s volunteer docents, who interpret the Museum’s collections to visitors and student groups. Below: Artist Aithan Shapira led a tour of the exhibition Hope: Artwork by Aithan Shapira during the opening reception in May.
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Above and left: The Museum held a screening of the HBO documentary Night Will Fall, about the making of the film German Concentration Camp Factual Survey. Barnet Hartston, Associate Professor of History at Eckerd College; Gregg Perkins, Chair/ Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Tampa; and Christina Peterson, Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Eckerd College; participated in a panel duscissuion of the film (above right), moderated by Tampa Bay Times movie critic Steve Persall (above left). Dr. Peterson introduced the film (left).
Above and left: Father Patrick Desbois, founder and president of the Paris-based Yahad – In Unum, visited the Museum to speak to The FHM’s Leadership Council and Life Members about Yahad’s work identifying the sites of mass crimes committed against Jews and Roma by the Nazis and their collaborators in Eastern Europe. He led attendees on a tour of the exhibition Holocaust by Bullets: Yahad – In Unum, 10 Years of Investigation.
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Patrice Bensimon, left, Research Director of Yahad – In Unum, leads visitors on a free public tour of the exhibition Holocaust by Bullets.
Above: Visitors tour the Holocaust by Bullets exhibition. Before the tour, Bensimon gave a public program on Yahad’s research in Eastern Europe. Left: Members of the Leadership Council and Life Members met prior to the public program for a private reception with Bensimon and Research Fellow Marie Moutier.
Our Mission: The Florida Holocaust Museum honors the memory of millions of innocent men, women and children who suffered or died in the Holocaust. The Museum is dedicated to teaching the members of all races and cultures the inherent worth and dignity of human life in order to prevent future genocides. Visit The Florida Holocaust Museum The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Student and group tours available. Docent led tours are available with admission every Saturday at 2 p.m. For more information on admission prices and visiting the Museum, please visit us online at www.flholocaustmuseum.org or call (727) 820-0100.